An Unusual Morning
by MonumentForTheDead
Summary: Cinderella already knew all sorts of punishments her stepmother used to give her, but this one was certanly unusual...


**Okaaaay, I feel so strange by writing this... I hope you understand guys!**

** If you don't like it, don't read it (There's nothing of really graphic in this fic, I guess I'm just paranoid...)**

**This was requested by a friend of mine, we both love this pairing.**

**Anyway, I didn't want to make anything too explicit or sexual, and I wanted to keep both of them in character... so I guess this is just about a really awkward moment between Cinderella and Lady Tremaine. **

**Hope you like it!**

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"_Close the door, Cinderella" _

I instantly felt a chill going down my spine as her words pierced me like knifes.

"_Come here…"_

Oh, what choice did I have? I knew I was in deep trouble from the moment I heard Anastasia's screams.

"_Oh please, you don't think that I…" _My feeble attempts of making an excuse were failing miserably.

"_Hold your tongue"_ Her voice was cold and hard like stone _"Now… It seems we have time on our hands" _She said while she poured some tea in her cup.

"_But I was only trying to…"_

"_Silence!"_ From that moment, I didn't even dare to move a finger…

"…_Time for vicious practical jokes… Perhaps we can put it to better use"_

Now, that was the moment I've been waiting for… My death sentence.

"_Now, let me see… There's the large carpet in the main hall. Clean it"_

Meanwhile I remained silent while she remembered about every corner of the house.

"…_And the windows, upstairs and down. Wash them… Oh, yes, and the tapestries and the draperies…"_

Now, that was enough for me to take. I've finished washing them by yesterday! Before I could even tell, I was interrupting her trail of thoughts.

"_But I just finished…"_

"_Do them again!" _She yelled, and I could visibly feel myself getting smaller because of the fear. _"And don't forget the garden. Scrub the terrace. Sweep the halls and the stairs. Clean the chimneys. And of course there's the mending, the sewing and the laundry."_

What she wanted from me? I'm just one person and the day only has twenty-four hours! I couldn't possibly do all the jobs she was asking in just one single day!

"_Oh, yes, and one more thing. See that Lucifer gets his bath."_

I nodded carefully, afraid that she would give me another extra thing to do (giving Lucifer a bath would take half of the day, that was for sure), and I turned to go away.

"_But first, you will help me to get dressed"_

What? Now that was unusual… Stepmother never needed help to get dressed… Perhaps she just wanted me to do more jobs than usual? Well, I could manage that in a heartbeat. I'm always helping Anastasia and Drizella with their clothes anyway…

"_So, child, what are you waiting for? Fetch my red dress in the wardrobe, and the undergarments on the drawer at once" _She said while tossing the blankets to one side and getting off from the bed.

"_Here you are stepmother…"_ I returned within a second, with her dress on one arm and her undergarments on the other.

"_Good" _She turned to face the mirror on her dressing table; in one swift move she undid her hair… The mass of grey curls cascaded down past her shoulders… Strangely I've never noticed how shiny and soft they looked…

Before I could notice, she was looking at me from the mirror. An inquisitive look on her eyebrows… Always bossing me around…

"_Are you just going to stand there? We haven't got all day" _She got up from the chair, clapping her hands twice, before turning to me, waiting… Her deep green eyes seemed to stare at my very soul.

"_Oh, of course, but I don't really know how to start, I…" _Before I cold even tell, I was fumbling with the huge amount of fabric in my arms, not even knowing how to start to dress her.

"_Foolish girl, start with the undergarments of course! Now, if you may…"_ She turned around and moved all her hair to one side of her shoulder, giving me a sign to unbutton her nightgown.

Now I was really confused… She actually wanted me to undress her? She never asked me this before. Most of the times she didn't even like when I touched her… As I reached for her, my hands started to tremble, afraid of might doing something wrong… What if my fingers unconsciously pulled her hair, or maybe I scratched her skin by accident? Suddenly, she seemed made of the finest porcelain, and I was afraid of even doing the smallest move.

Anyway, after long moments I managed to undo all of her buttons, exposing her back… Oh my, her skin seemed so fair and soft, I wonder what it feels like by the touch… But I tried so hard not to look too much as I ever saw her so exposed in front of me before… The whole situation was beginning to get very uncomfortable.

"_Good girl, you can continue now" _She said almost in a whisper, sliding down one shoulder of the nightgown a little, as showing me what to do next.

Still facing her back, I grabbed the shoulders of the dress carefully and slid then down until all of her upper body was uncovered. I could hear her breathing becoming erratic and see her skin getting goose-bumps everywhere.

Was she feeling ok? I was terribly nervous just to look at her, the last thing I needed was her getting ill right now…

As I slid down the rest of the dress, getting on my knees to pull the fabric from her waist, I couldn't help but wonder why nor had Anastasia nor Drizella inherited her body shape… Those two were flat as an ironing table, but stepmother was – and there was no other word to describe it – curvaceous… Although being old, she still had perfect curves… Her alabaster skin was firm, but soft at the touch (I could feel it by the time when I grabbed the dress from its shoulders, and my fingers accidentally brushed her arms, making her shiver visibly). She was truly worth of envy…

"_Now Cinderella, my corset and the underskirts… Quick" _I turned right away to get the things she was asking for, but her image got printed in my mind in a way I've never experienced before.

Besides being completely uncovered in front of me, stepmother seemed to be very at ease in my presence. At first, when I removed her clothes, her arms went instinctively towards her chest, but now she decided it was meaningless if I saw her or not, which by the way, I did… Now, her every detail was glued in my brain, just like I was seeing her right in front of me, even though I was focusing on getting her corset on the bed. But the only thing she seemed to feel was cold, because every time I touched her she got shivers and flinched a bit. And my hands were warm!

Besides all the awkwardness, I managed to put on her corset, and now she was holding tightly on one of the pillars of her bed, as I got ready to pull the strings.

"_Pull it tight will you?"_ She said before holding her breath.

I gathered all my strength – and let's say, all my courage – and I began to tug into the strings, until her waist looked like a perfect hourglass and she wasn't able to breathe properly.

"_Good…"_ she panted, her back still turned at me _"Now, one more tug and you can tie it up"_

I obeyed silently before tugging one more time on the strings, but this time, - I honestly don't know what happened - she somehow lost hold of herself. And before I could even notice, she was falling towards me, screeching in shock.

The only thing I thought of doing was to reach for her, and in a second, our bodies were hitting each other with a thud, both of my hands unconsciously flew around her waist, preventing her to fall. Her back was now glued to my chest, and my legs were spread widely, searching for some kind of balance.

"_Cinderella!"_ She screamed out loud _"Can't you do anything right?!" _

"_I'm… I'm so sorry, stepmother… It won't happen again, I swear!"_ My face, buried inside her grey curls, burned due to the shame.

"_It's better not!" _Her hands went blindly around my thighs, giving her the impulse she needed to be straight again.

My trembling hands finished the job with her corset, and I quickly put on her underskirts, and silently, I went forward to pick up her dress on the bed. I could almost feel her cold green eyes burning a hole o hate on my back, but when I turned around to face her, her expression was somewhat softer than I thought… At least she wasn't sneering like she always did. She was simply waiting for me to finish the rest of the job…

"_Aham… Stepmother… If you please"_ I opened the dress and got on my knees, so she could step inside the outfit.

She silently grabbed her underskirts, revealing her small feet – that was actually the first time that I noticed them – They were so small that I wouldn't wonder if we wore the same number of shoes… again, I couldn't help but think why my stepsisters were the exact opposite of her.

As she was inside the dress, I slowly began to lift it, putting her sleeves and adjusting the fabric around the waist. Without thinking too much, I suddenly grabbed her hair and gently placed it on her shoulder, making her shiver harder than ever. At first, I thought she was going to yell at me, but she just sighed loudly as I began to button up the neck of her dress.

Meanwhile in my head, I was feeling strange things I thought I could never feel towards her. My senses were over sensitive for some reason, and all of a sudden I could feel the strong smell of cinnamon her body exhaled, her silky hair barely moving, while resting on her shoulder, and her slow and calm breath, once erratic when I undressed her… Now it was my breath that was becoming fast, I tried to make my hands steady, but I realized I wasn't able to do that… It was so awkward having this sudden interaction with the person that was once so spiteful and terrible… But she was so in peace with me, that I unconsciously felt in peace with her. And as I finished the last button, I wished I could stay a little longer, taking care of her…

"_There you are stepmother… Do you need anything else?"_ I asked with a visible hint of hope in my voice. Maybe she needed help to get her hair done… Or maybe I could put on her shoes.

"_No Cinderella… Off you go now. If I'm right, you have a lot to do today"_ She said coldly, her back still turned at me.

"_Yes…"_ I nodded sadly as I waked away from her room. I know I shouldn't feel sad about it, she never thanked me for anything, but it was frustrating not having just a little recognition… Even after all that I did for her in that past minutes.

But before I could reach the doorknob, her hand closed around my arm tightly, and she turned me around in a harsh way. Her extremely green eyes met my blue ones, and we remained silent for some long moments… She seemed to have something stuck on her throat that she was desperate to get out… I got so deeply lost in those eyes I barely felt she was still grabbing my arm.

"_Thank you, child…"_ She quickly pulled me closer to her, but she seemed to wonder for a moment, and before I could even do something about it, she was releasing my arm. That well known expression of superiority all over her face again – I realized then, it was that expression that made her look ugly and evil.

"_Now you can go"_ She smiled evilly to me, signaling that my time with her was over.

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**Here you are! I hope you all enjoyed! **

**Now, be nice to me and drop a little review! Please?**


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